Kamra is known for his using sharp political satire in his shows, drawing sharp criticism from his detractors
Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra is back in the spotlight after he uploaded his stand-up act video taking a jibe at Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. His latest stand-up comedy Naya Bharat was held in the Habitat Centre, Mumbai where Kamra performed a parody song referring to Shinde as “gaddar (traitor)” for leaving Shiv Sena party in 2022.
The venue was vandalized a day after the video came out. Kamra has reported receiving threats in various forms and has issued a statement refusing to apologise.
Many politicians including Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray and Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Jaya Bachchan spoke out in support of him. “I don't think Kunal Kamra said anything wrong. Calling 'gaddar', a 'gaddar' is not an attack on anyone...Hear the full song (from Kunal Kamra's show) and make others hear it too," Thackeray told ANI.
Kamra started his career as a production assistant at Corcoise Films, Prasoon Pandey's ad film production company, where he worked for 11 years. He then started his career in comedy in 2013. Since then, he is known for his using sharp political satire in his shows, drawing sharp criticism from his detractors.
Later in 2017, he started his show titled Shut Up Ya Kunal which featured discussions with guests ranging from politicians like Atishi Marlena from Aam Aadmi Party to lyricist and poet such as Javed Akhtar. He was also featured in the first season of One Mic Stand (2019) on Amazon Prime Video. He started Why Are We Even (2020) podcast and Team Baan: Monday Morning Podcast (2020).
According to Youtubers.me, his net worth is estimated in the range of $1.19–7.14 lakh. He, reportedly, earns revenue of Rs 12–15 lakh per month from his comedy shows. His YouTube channel has a subscriber base of almost 2.5mn.
Kamra was in controversy earlier when he called out the issues with Ola’s electric scooters and the company’s customer care services. The war of words between Kamra and company’s founder Bhavish Aggarwal stretched for days with Aggarwal calling the former’s tweet ‘paid’ and his comedy career ‘failed’.